On his Own
by mariannesinger16
Summary: Even though he proved in a duel that he's ready to live on his own, Yugi is learning how to defend himself without the Pharaoh. And now, he's in a situation where none of his friends can help him, so he must learn how to stand up for himself.
1. Chapter 1

Yugi sat up in his bed and stretched. He looked around his room with tired eyes. Things had been so quiet for the past six months, and it just didn't feel right to him. He brought his knees up to his chin and sat in silence.

He felt empty and alone. He didn't want to move or make contact with other people, he couldn't stand it anymore. Luckily, it was the weekend, so hopefully his grandpa would let him sleep in for a while.

"Yugi!" Solomon called from downstairs. "Wake up, your friend's here!"

Yugi moaned.

"You're kidding me..." He grumpily walked downstairs in his PJs. "Hello?"

"'Ey, Yuug!" a familiar Brooklyn accent called. "It's finally the weekend, whaddya say we go some where fun?"

Yugi didn't feel like doing anything, especially not with a human being, even his best friend. Using the most polite tone he could fake he said,

"Uh, sorry, Joey, I'm not feeling too great. Maybe next ti-"

"Come on, Yugi," Solomon interrupted. "You've been cramped up in that room of yours for ages. Go get some fresh air with your buddy."

Yugi sighed.

"Alright, let me get dressed."

He got dressed in his usual uniform and walked out of his house with Joey. The entire time they were walking, Yugi was hunched over while having a dull and angry look on his face, and never made eye contact with his friend. Joey caught on that something was wrong and quickly came up with ways to cheer him up.

"Ya wanna go to Boi-ger world? Tea just got her job back, and her outfit... Heh heh."

"Sure, whatever."

Joey grew determined to make him smile. He quickly got in front of him and pointed at the ground.

"'Ay look! A penny!" He bent down to grab it, then he purposefully tripped causing his head to hit the sidewalk. "OW!"

No matter how funny Joey was being, Yugi couldn't smile. Nothing just seemed to make him happy. However, he wanted to be polite, so he applauded for a few seconds to praise his friend's comedy act. When he was done, he began to walk away. Joey grabbed Yugi's waste.

"Please! Yugi, would it kill ya to lighten up a bit!?"

"I'm sorry, Joey, I just have a headache."

Joey lightly punched Yugi's head repeatedly. "You've had a headache for six months now! Get better already, I'm bored!"

Yugi shook him off.

"I'm sorry, I'm just not in the mood!"

"... Are you still upset about the Pharoah?" Yugi felt like someone was squeezing his heart. "Thought so. You wanna talk about it?"

Yugi faked a smile and forced a laugh.

"Of course it's not about Pharoah. I'm happy for him, he's living a life with his own body now. Don't worry about me, Joey, I'm just a little tired, that's all."

Joey stood up.

"Yuug, if you ever wanna talk to me, I'm here."

"Thanks, but I'm fine. Really." He turned around, not even trying to put on a happy face anymore. "I... need to be alone. I'll catch ya later, pal."

Joey looked around in thought, hoping his best friend would be okay. What caught his eye was an advetisement on a wall for women's swimsuits. He snickered and held up his phone to take a picture. A sports car drove by, and he took at least seventy pictures of it. He leaned forward towards it, and ending up falling on his face.

"Come back!" he whined.

Yugi continued to walk forward, looking at the ground the whole time. He knew Joey was trying to help, but he just couldn't stay with him. Ever since Yami left, he couldn't stand being around other people, it pained him.

He sat down on a bench and sighed, looking at a card.

"You're the only thing keeping me sane now, Dark Magician." The card was swiped from his hands. "Huh? H-hey!"

"Are you talking to your Duel Monsters card?" the strange woman asked. "Children have such wild imaginations, don't they?"

"Hey, give that back! And I'm not a kid, I'm eighteen!"

The woman examined the card. "This card looks like you've used it a lot."

"Yeah, it's my favorite card, so give it back!"

The woman handed Yugi back his card and smiled gently. "It's nice to meet you, kid. My name's Minny."

Yugi swiped the card out of her hands.

"My name's Yugi Muto-" Minny's eyes narrowed. "-and I'm not a kid! I'm a high school student!"

"Ha ha ha! Children like to play pretend a lot these days."

"I'M NOT SOME DUMB KID!"

Minny giggled and patted his head.

"You're pretty cute. Say, I need some help around my house, would you mind stopping by?"

Yugi was skeptical.

"If you think I'm a kid, which I'm not, then how do you know my parents would let me go?"

"I was just teasing, I don't think you're a kid. If you're eighteen years old, then I assume you're looking for a job, right? How would you like to work around my house for a while?"

"Hmm..." _I guess I could use a job. But I really don't wanna be around any people right now._ "I'm sorry, miss, but I don't do too well around people-"

"Oh don't worry, hon, you won't have to ever say a word to me. I just need you to clean my floors and do my laundry is all, you can go back home right afterwards."

"... Alright, I guess. Let me call my Grandpa and let him know first."

* * *

Yugi and Minny came walking up to a large mansion. Yugi got an unnerving feeling from the place, and everything in his gut was telling him to get out of there.

"Um, n-now that I think about it, I don't need a job at the moment. Thanks for the offer, though, but I've gotta go. So, I'll catch ya later, miss Min-"

"Guards!"

Two large men grabbed Yugi by the arms and held him up. The teen kicked and flailed, trying to get out of their grasps, but to no avail.

"Hey! What's the big idea!?"

"You're not getting away from me," Minny said, "my son."

"Your son!?"

"Uh-huh. I assume Solomon told you how you came to be in his care; your father died and your mother abandoned you. Well, of course she'd abandoned you. Who would wanna take care of a toddler without their father? But now I've re-married, and you're the King of Games, who wouldn't want to be the parent of someone like that?"

"So you're just kidnapping me then!? My Grandpa will come looking f-"

"I'm not kidnapping you, Solomon already signed the rights for me to take care of you until you graduate this morning."

"What!?"

-Flashback-

Solomon opened the door to see Minny in tight clothing and wearing a wig holding up a clipboard with paper and a pen.

"Hey there, sir. This is a paper contract to help save the rain forest, would you mind signing?"

"Anything for a beautiful woman."

Minny giggled. "Thanks. By the way, do you have any children here at the moment?"

"Oh, I do, but you just missed him. He's out with his friend at the moment. Why-"

"Thanks anyway, bye-bye!"

-End of flashback-

"Curses, Grandpa..."

"So, by legal standards, I own you now, Yugi. Let him go, men." After they did, Minny grabbed Yugi and started cuddling him. "Now I'm the mommy of the King of Games! Or, your daddy will be so happy that we've finally find you!"

"Help me..."

 **This story will get intense later, and I'll try to make future chapters longer. I'll update soon. Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

Joey was running towards the Muto Game store. He knew Yugi was really hurting inside, and so he wanted to try and cheer him up. He opened the door which caused the bell to ring.

"Yo! Gramps!"

"Oh, welcome back. Where's Yugi?"

"Huh? You mean he didn't come back 'ere?"

"No, I thought he was with you."

Joey sighed. "He's really been isolent lately, he didn't even come home," he moaned. "Lemme call him up." He opened up favorites and waited for the response. _Please, Yuug, don't isolate yourself from me... Let me help you!_

* * *

"Your new father will be back shortly, Yugi," Minni said. "This is your new room, we've had it prepared for a while. You can stay in here to get used to it while you're waiting for your father." She closed the door.

The second the door closed, Yugi's phone started to ring. It was Joey. Yugi felt like there might've been hope and answered it excitedly.

"Yes!? Joey!?"

"Oh, Yuug, you actually answered. Where are you?"

"I'm uh, at my mother's."

"Say what!?"

"Yeah. After sixteen years, my mother wanted me back. She didn't exactly kidnapp me, because Grandpa signed the contracts this morning."

"You did what, old man!?"

"Don't get mad, Joey, she tricked him."

"Well, don't worry about it, Yugi, I'm on my way. What's the adress?"

"Um..." Yugi looked out the window. "I-it's Wensley-"

Minni opened the door, making Yugi jump and nearly drop the phone. "Yugi, your father's here. Come down, he wants to meet you."

"Uh, I'm on the phone, c-can't talk right now."

She grabbed the phone from him.

"You can talk to your friends later, come meet your new father."

* * *

"Yugi? Yugi!? S-something hung him up..."

"Good heavens!" Solomon exclaimed. "What are we supposed to do now!?"

"He said that his mother's house is... somewhere in Wensley."

"Wensley? Wensley road, or the Wensley neighborhood?"

"I dunno, he didn't say. But what're we supposed to do? We don't have time to check both of them!"

"What choice do we have?"

Joey growled and clenched his fists. "Alright then. I'll go get Tristain, Tea, and Bakura. Can you start looking on one of the Wen-"

Solomon was already out the door.

"HAVE NO FEAR, YUGI, YOUR OLD MAN IS COMING TO SAVE THE DAY!" A cracking sound was heard followed by a thud. "Help... m'back...!"

Joey sighed. "Somebody needs to get that old man his pills..."

* * *

Yugi gulped as he headed down stairs.

"Yugi, this is your father, Andrew," Minni said innocently.

His new father, Andrew, really didn't seem all that intimidating. If anything, he looked rather puppy doggish. However, Yugi could tell that there was something in him that he should stay away from.

"So you're Yugi-kun," Andrew said. "It's so nice to know I'm the father of the King of Games, I'm also a bit of a Duelist. Maybe we could duel sometime, kid."

An idea popped in the teen's mind.

"That's a great idea! Why don't we duel right now?"

"Oh! Uh, sure-"

"But, let's throw in some stakes," Yugi said with a smirk. "If you win, I'll be your son and live here until I graduate. If you loose, you have to let me go and let me live with my Grandpa again. Do we have a deal?"

"You're betting our family relationship?"

"Aw, let him have his fun, Andrew," Minni said. "Kids have wild imaginations, don't they?"

"I say before, I say again, I'm not a kid!"

Andrew chuckled.

"Nahh, it's okay. We can duel on these conditions." He narrowed his eyes and gained a cocky smirk. "It's not like I'll loose to him anyway."

Yugi put on a similar face.

"Heh heh. Don't be too sure, 'dad.'"

Minni sighed. "Boys," she said with a shrug.

They put their Duel on a mirage table. It wasn't like Yugi was used to, but he felt comfortable feeling his monsters were actually there. After shuffling their decks, they decided for Yugi to be the first to go.

"I summon my Celtic Guardian in attack mode! Now I place two cards face down, that ends my turn. Your move."

"I draw," Andrew said. "I activate the Magic Card 'Pot of Greed' from my hand, allowing me to draw three cards. Now, I activate the Magic Card 'Graceful Charity' from my hand, allowing me to draw three cards and discard two. I discard my 'Makyura the Destructor' and my 'Needle Worm' from my hand. Now I activate three copies of 'Needle Nest' from my hand, sending the top 15 cards from my deck to the graveyard. Now, to end this duel, I activate my trap card, 'Exchange of the Spirit', switching my deck with my graveyard, and your deck with your graveyard. Now I end my turn, and since you can't draw, I automatically win."

Yugi smirked.

"You activated my Magic Card, father!" he yelled. "This is called Army Revival, it brings back all monsters from my Graveyard to my deck. Now, I draw. And now I order my Celtic Guardian to attack your life points directly!" He was shot down to 3500 life points. "I'm just getting warmed up."

"... Music to my ears."

* * *

Tea and Tristain started with Wensley neighborhood.

"Yugi!" Tea cried as Tristain ran up to her. "Tristain. Any luck?"

"None so far."

"Grr! Darn it, where could he be?"

"Hey, have we checked this place yet?" Tristain asked, pointing to a mansion a few feet in front of them. It was Minni's mansion.

"I was just about to." Tea knocked on the door, allowing Minni to answer it. "Hi, pardon us, ma'am, but have you seen a boy a foot shorter than me with red and yellow spike-y hair?"

"... No, I haven't. Now, if you'll excuse us, I'm busy with something."

"Thanks any-" She closed the door. Tea sighed. "Come on, Tristain, let's keep looking."

* * *

"I activate the Magic Card 'Go Fish'!" Andrew yelled. "It allows me to pick a card in your hand if I guess correctly. Hmm... ... Got any Kings Knights?" Yugi silently tossed his King's Knight over to him. "Ha ha! This Magic Card also allows me to summon the monster to the field if I choosed correctly, so I summon King's Knight and my Needle Worm to the field. Now I place two cards faced down. That ends my turn."

Yugi started laughing with pure joy and excitement.

"This is so much fun! I command the Dark Magician Girl to attack your Needle Worm!"

"You activated my trap card! Mirror Force!"

"I activate my Magic Card, Card cancelation!" DMG destroyed Needle Worm, taking out 600 life points. Yugi started laughing again. "I feel so alive!"

"Well, your monsters won't for long."

Yugi's eyes narrowed as he smirked.

"It's still my turn, father. I activate my face-down card, the Magic Card Double Attack! This doubles the attack points of one of my monsters, and I choose my Celtic Guardian. Now, attack his King's Knight!"

"Hold on, I activate my face-down Trap Card! Attack Reduce! This reduces the Attack Points of any Monster that attacks, and so your Celtic Guardian gets destroyed instead of my King's Knight!"

Yugi lost seven hundred points. (Andrew, 2900. Yugi, 3300)

 _Strange, why didn't he lower the attack points of my Dark Magician Girl?_

"My move. I activate the Magic Card Point Swap. This allowes me to swap the Attack Points of two monsters on the field, and I choose your Dark Magician Girl and my King's Knight. Now, my Knight, attack his Dark Magician Girl!" Yugi lost four hundred points. "Looks like things are even now."

"Yeah, but for how long?"

* * *

"Hi, sir," Tea said, "have you seen a boy a foot shorter than me with red and gold spikey hair with cute purple eyes?"

"I have actually. While I was driving home from the store, I saw a boy matching that description walking into that mansion over there with a woman who looked like his mother."

"Ah! Thank you so much, sir!" She opened up her phone while running back towards the mansion. "Joey, tell everyone to come over to Wensley neighborhood, I think I found Yugi! Tell Tristain he's in the mansion with the old blond woman, he'll know where to look." She hung up. "I'm coming Yugi. Wait..." She stopped running. "How're we supposed to get him back? Minni is keeping him under her roof legally."

 _..._ She started running again. No. _I already lost the love of my life, I won't loose his best friend!_

 **Yeah, I am making up random cards, but as Kaiba once said... "Screw the rules! I've got money!" And I'm trying to make this more intense, so... Wait for next chapter! I am having fun!**


	3. Chapter 3

"I draw," Yugi said. "I summon my Summon Skull in attack mode and my Big Shield Gardna in defense mode! Now, I place two cards face down on the field! Your move."

"I summon the Monster Isious in defense mode. That's all."

 _That's all?_ Yugi thought. _It only has ten defense points, and he didn't place any cards down. Hmm..._ "Alright, Summon Skull, destroy his Isious!" he commanded.

Andrew chuckled, and his chuckle grew to a meniacle laughter.

"Oh, Yugi-kun, it seems you haven't seen that Monster before," he said. "When Isious is sent to the Graveyard by a Monster, then that activates his special ability. His Defense points and your Life Points switch!" Yugi gasped as he Life Points went down to ten. "And it also makes it automatically my move, so now I activate the Magic Card Monster Reborn to bring back Isious with 3900 defense points. Now, I switch it to Attack Mode, and place one card face down. That's all for now."

Yugi stared in shock with his mouth and eyes wide open.

* * *

Tea ran up to the door and started knocking away like she was beating someone.

"HEY!" she roared. "Open up!"

Minni opened the door, allowing Tea to hit her over the head, knocking her unconscious and rush into the mansion.

Tea started running through the house ransacking several rooms."Yugi! Yugi, where are you!?" Not finding anything on the first floor, she decided to head up the spiral staircase.

"Yugi!" she called. "Yugi! It's me, Tea, where are you- UNG!"

She fell flat on the floor.

"It looks like we've got ourselves an intruder," a henchman said. "Minni-san, are you alright?"

"Engh... I'm... fine, just call the police and tie her up."

"Yes, ma'am."

* * *

Yugi turned his head up towards the room above of him.

"Tea?"

"Hey! Stop daydreaming, we're still in the Duel!"

 _I thought I heard her voice. Was I imagining it?_

"Well, Yugi-kun, it looks like you'll be living with me for a while. Now what're you waiting for? It's your move."

Yugi turned his head back towards the field and gulped. He slowly reached towards his deck, and with an extremely shakey hand drew his next card.

 _Kuriboh? How does this help anybody!?_ "I-I sacrifice my Big Shield Gardna t-to summon my Dark Magician in Attack Mode. N-now I activate my face down card, Polymerization. F-fusing Dark Magician and Summon Skull together, I get Magic Skull, who has more Attack Points than your Isious. Now, attack!"

"Not so fast, you've activated my Trap Card, Mirror Force. It'll send this attack right back at you!"

"AH! W-wait, I-I activate my second face down Card, Life Protection!" Yugi yelled, a bit scared. "S-so my Life Points a-are safe." His trembling continued. "A-and that... ends my turn."

"... You're shaking, Yugi-kun," Andrew teased. "Are you scared?"

"N-no!"

"Well, you should be," Andrew said as he held up the card he had drawn. "Because I'm about to end this Duel in two turns. I activate the Magic Card Poison Ivy!" Yugi gasped. "By activating this card, my opponent looses 9 life points every turn. Now, I switch Isious into Defense Mode and place one card face down. That ends my turn." He chuckled. "Go ahead and do whatever it is you can do. You'll loose this Duel once your turn is over."

Tears started falling down Yugi's face.

 _It's over... I've lost..._

* * *

Tea opened her eyes.

"H-hey! What did you do to me!? Let me go!"

"Be quiet, little girl, we're not letting you go."

"Well, if you're not gonna let me go, can I at least see my friend?"

"Hmm? You mean Yugi-sama? He's in the middle of a Duel right now, but the police will be here shortly anyway, you wouldn't get much time to talk."

 _Are you serious!? You mean he's playing card games at a time like this? ... Well, if he is, then I... I have to be there to cheer him on! Just as I always have!_ "Take me to him! Please, let me watch! I need to be there for him!"

"Shut up, you're not leaving this room until the police arrive."

Tea growled and looked at the floor, clenching her fists.

"Yugi..."

* * *

"Hmm...? Are you actually crying?"

 _There's no way I can win this... But I don't wanna stay here. I can't stay here! I've gotta win this, but I can't! Oh, what would Pharaoh do?_ Yugi snapped into reality. _No... That's all I've been asking for as long as I can remember. Pharaoh has been doing all the work ever since after I finished the Puzzle, I've been hiding behind him while he fought the battles I was supposed to fight. Not just the Pharaoh, I've been hiding behind_ _everyone_ _my whole life! I've either been too scared or too pathetic to do anything for myself, even now. No... No more! I won't hold anyone back anymore! It's not too late, I can change! It was okay to let others stand up for me, but it's time to stand up for myself! You wanna know what Pharaoh would be doing now? He'd be wondering why you're standing here crying like a baby, and not believing in the Heart of the f**king Cards!_

Yugi's eyes dried up as he screamed in anger and excitement towards the ceiling.

"Alright, old man, it's time for you to loose!" he roared. Without looking at the card he drew, he held it up to his face. "I activate the Magic Card Healing Fairy! It cures me of any viruses the opposing player might have planted on me! Now, I activate my Magic Card, Face Down destroyer! All of your face-down cards have no effect on me! Now, destroy his Isious! Because Isious is in the graveyard, I now have 3900 Life Points again. Now, I activate my second Magic Card Encore! This allows me to attack again! Now, Magic Skull, attack his Life Points directly!"

Andrew went down to 2500.

"Wh-what happened to you!?"

Yugi's face changed. He gained a cocky smirk, his eyes narrowed slightly, and his eyes gained a courageous spark.

"Me? Oh, nothing, I'm just about to kick your butt."

* * *

Tea perked her head up.

 _I heard a yell. Yugi? No, the voice sounded exactly the same, but... That voice was vigorous and courageous, it couldn't've been Yugi. Ph-Pharaoh...?_

* * *

"Alright, my move," Andrew said. "I activate Swords of Penetrating Light! Your monster cannot move for three turns! Now, I summon the Electric Mouse in Attack Mode! Next, I activate the Magic Card, Strength Increase! It raises its attack points by 5000! (It's up to 1000.) That ends my turn."

"I summon my Kuriboh in Attack Mode! And I place one card face down, that ends my turn."

"That's it? Well then, Electric Mouse, I command you to attack his Kuriboh!"

"You activated my Trap Card!" (That multiplier thing, I forgot its name.) "Unless you can destroy all of my Kuriboh, my life points are safe."

"Engh...! Fine, I end by turn."

Yugi drew the next card and laughed.

"I activate the Magic Card Rebellion! This causes all Monsters on your side of the field to attack your Life Points directly!"

"AH!"

His Life Points went down to 1500.

"Now, I activate the Magic Card Monster Reborn to bring back the Dark Magician Girl! Now I place one card face down, and that ends my turn. Your move."

 _I need to take him out now!_

"I activate the Magic Card, Card Disctruction! It destroys your facedown card! Now, I command the Electric Mouse to destroy your Dark Magician Girl, taking out 700 of your Life Points!"

Yugi started laughing.

"It's over. Ha ha ha! It's over! That Magic Card you destroyed was Reincarnation. Once it and a Monster are in the grave yard, it brings it back with tripple the Attack Points it had when it was destroyed. So now, I revive the Dark Magician girl with 7500 Attack Points! Now, attack his Electric Mouse!"

Andrew's Life Points went down to 500.

"Darn it!"

"Now, the Swords of Penetrating Light have faded. This is the end. You're on the field defenseless. I command my Magic Skull to attack your Life Points directly, leaving you at 0!"

Andrew dropped his cards.

"H-how did-"

"It's over, father," Yugi said. "My faith in the Heart of the Cards is stronger than yours, that is why you lost to me. Now, you have to keep your promise and let me go!"

* * *

Tea managed to untie her ropes and jumped off of the chair, running towards the second door that was behind her, leading out of the room to where the Duel was being held.

"Hey! Wait, you brat!"

 _I heard him. I heard his voice. I don't know how he's here, but..._ She opened the door with her eyes closed, sobbing. "Pharaoh!" She kept running until she fell off of the railing. "AH!"


	4. Chapter 4

Tea fell headfirst. She leaned forward to land on her back, allowing the areas right below her shoulders and where her legs began to be supported by small and gentle hands.

"Tea?"

Tea recognized the soothing and courage voice and looked up. There was no one there. She looked down and saw the face of her highschool friend, Yugi.

"Y-Yugi?" she asked. "Where's Pharaoh?"

"Huh? Yami's back in Egypt, remember?"

"... But... I-I heard his voice-"

"The only voices in this room were mine and Andrew's."

Some of the butlers burst into the room along with Minni.

"The police are already here! Give her to us!" Minni shouted.

"Huh? What did she do?"

"She burst in here and hit me on the head, that's breaking and entering!"

"Aheh heh heh heh..."

"... Oh, Tea, did you come here to bring me my other Duel Monsters cards?" Yugi asked casually. "I wish you would've come sooner, I just had a duel. And you always were so clumsy to knock people out like that, you really need to be more careful. So where're my cards?"

Tea stared admiringly at the young boy.

"Aha ha ha ha ha ha! Oops, I left them at your house!"

"Curses, Tea, I could've really used those! We apologize for my friend's clumsiness, she can be a bit of a klutz sometimes."

Tea smacked him.

Minni growled.

"Fine, go get his cards and never come back, you brat."

"That's okay, I can get them myself," Yugi said. "I won the Duel, so I'm free."

"What!?"

"You two have to keep your promise! You no longer have any rights over me!"

Minni growled.

"A-Andrew!" Andrew didn't answer. "Darn it...!"

Yugi walked past her, still carrying the brunette.

"I don't need your answer. We made a deal, so I'm out."

Tea looked down again at Yugi.

"... Hey," she said, "you are Yugi Muto, right?"

"... No," Yugi said. "I'm not that cowardly klutz you grew up with, Tea. And I'm not that acient Pharaoh who didn't seem to know what fear was. I'm a new person entirely. I have the heart and mind of Yugi, and the courage and skill of the Pharaoh. My name is Yu-gi-oh!"

"Yugi... oh...," Tea repeated. "Where do you come up with these names?" She giggled. "Mind if I call you 'Yugi' for short?"

Yu-gi-oh chuckled.

"Sure."

* * *

"Yugi!" Joey cried as he picked Yugi up like he was a five-year-old. "You escaped! Alleluia!"

Joey then ended up on the ground with a large pink bump on his head.

"Thank goodness you're alright," Bakura said. "Did you escape or something?"

"No," Yugi said, ignoring Joey. "I made a deal if I won a Duel they'd let me go, and I won so they did."

"You're Dueling again!?" Tristain cried. "Aw man, I wish we could've seen that."

"You'll get to see it again soon," said a voice behind them. "I'm glad I finally found you geeks."

Yugi sighed.

"Hello, Kaiba."

Kaiba glared down at the teen.

"I hope you're ready to have that rematch."

"Don't you have anything else better to do than fight a highschooler to be the best at a children's card game?" Joey asked as he stood up angrily. "Get a life, rich boy!"

"No, it's okay," Yugi said. "I wanna Duel you, too."

Kaiba smirked.

"Finally. And please tell me there'll be no nonsense about ancient Egypt this time around."

"Eh, I should assume not. The crazy stuff just happened like, a few minutes ago."

-three minutes later-

"You couldn't even give me FIVE F**KING MINUTES, YOU BRAT!? I SWEAR BY MY BLUE EYES WHITE DRAGON'S-"

"Ha ha, gets me everytime."

"-FOR THIS YOU B***ARD!"

* * *

A year had past. Kaiba could never beat Yu-gi-oh in the thousands of rematches they had had later.

Yu-gi-oh, now 5'6 and about to get on the plane to college, picked up his deck of cards and placed them in his belt. He was about to walk out the door, when he sensed a presence behind him. A familiar, soothing presence that was keeping him inside.

"... Yami, I know you're not there, but... I wonder if your ghost is listening. If you can hear me then..." He turned to where he felt the presence and smiled. "You can let go now," he said. "I'm leaving to go to college, but... My friends are going to separate ones, so... I don't know when I'll be seeing them again. And if I'm honest, I don't need them. I can protect myself, I'm not Yugi anymore. If only you could see me now, you wouldn't believe I was that dork back in highschool!" He smiled and held his hands firmly at his side. "So, Yami, if you can hear me... you can let go now."

He opened the door and hesitated to step out.

Someone pushed him out the door and into the open world. Yu-gi-oh looked behind him, and saw that no one was there. He smiled, knowing exactly who it was, and headed off. And thus, the last time Yami ever layed eyes on his vessel.

 **AN: I know it was a bit lame, but this is just how I immagined everything that played out. Please tell me what you thought of this fanfiction, and I'll be sure to improve in the future. And yes, yes, I know that Yami said one of _his_ names is Yu-gi-oh, but... Yami has never been called Yu-gi-oh. Ever. It's either Yami, Pharaoh, or Atem. So I thought I'd give Yugi the name Yu-gi-oh, it makes more sense that way.**


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